JPH04344368A - Optical card driving device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make the deviation from tracking servo hardly occur by controlling the card position in the tracking direction through a slide member which reciprocates integrally with the optical card. CONSTITUTION:The optical card driving device has a movable optical pickup 2 to irradiate beam to an optical card 7 and a driving means which supplies the power to the optical card 7. It is provided with a slider 31 and an energizing member composed of rollers 8, 9, and 10 which energize a guide shaft 17 and the optical card 7 to the slider 31 and leaf springs 11, 12, and 13. Thus, with the slider 31 which reciprocates with the card position control in the tracking direction and the optical card 7 integrated, the guide in the tracking direction is performed along a member longer than the optical card 7, the edge of the card and the guide shaft 17 never comes into contact, and the tracking servo deviation occurs hardly.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a card drive device for an optical information recording/reproducing apparatus that records and/or reproduces information using an optical card.

0002

[Prior Art] Optical cards have a storage capacity several thousand to 10,000 times larger than magnetic cards, and although they cannot be rewritten, their storage capacity is 1 to 2 MB, which is why they are used as bank passbooks. A wide range of applications are being considered, such as mobile maps, prepaid cards used for shopping, etc.

Generally, tracks are provided on the data recording surface of an optical card in the longitudinal direction, and when recording/reproducing data, the optical pickup is moved in the transverse direction to select a track, and the card is moved back and forth in the longitudinal direction. The track is scanned by moving it.

[0004] Since this optical card has a high recording density, in order to record and reproduce data, it is necessary to regulate the relative position of the optical card and the optical pickup that moves in the focusing and tracking directions using a highly accurate positioning mechanism. be.

Although various optical card drive devices for reciprocating an optical card have been proposed, a method using a drive roller is generally used. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-173357 discloses the following optical card drive device (see FIGS. 8 to 10).

In this example, the optical card 61 is placed in a frame 62.
At this point, it is conveyed in the longitudinal direction by drive rollers 63. The drive roller 63 is arranged to extend in the width direction of the optical card 61 so as to be in contact with the lower surface of the optical card 61 at the reading position by the reading head 64 . The rotation shaft 63a of the drive roller 63 is vertically displaceable and rotatably engaged with notch grooves 65 and 66 formed in the frame 62 at both ends thereof, and
The rubber rollers 69 and 70 of the drive roller 63 are biased upwardly by springs 67 and 68 attached to the optical card 61 so that the rubber rollers 69 and 70 of the drive roller 63 are in effective contact with the lower surface of the optical card 61. Also, in order to rotate the rotating shaft 63a, a gear 7 is attached to one end of the rotating shaft 63a.
1 is provided, and a worm gear 73 provided on the output shaft of a motor 72 is meshed with this gear 71.

[0007]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, when the length of the continuous recording track extends to almost the entire length of the optical card (hereinafter referred to as long track), the drive length of the optical card (hereinafter referred to as card longitudinal dimension) also extends to almost the entire length of the optical card. The total length must be guaranteed. In order for a tracking guide roller (hereinafter referred to as a guide roller) that guides the side surface of the optical card to function as a guide, the optical card must be in contact with at least two rollers over the entire stroke. Otherwise, the optical card would have the freedom to rotate around the only point of contact with the roller. Moreover, the closer the two rollers come together, the less stable they become as guides.
It is not sufficient to simply provide two.

Therefore, if two guide rollers are provided on one side of the optical card, this is only effective as a guide when the longitudinal dimension of the card is short. That is, as shown in 11, when handling a long track card, the two guide rollers cannot cover the entire stroke, and one of the two guide rollers separates from the optical card near the turning point. In other words, the distance (L) that the optical card can move in contact with two guide rollers
) is the card longitudinal dimension (S) and guide roller pitch (P
) and R of the optical card, the relationship is L=SP-2R. Note that B indicates the beam irradiation position.

Therefore, at least three guide rollers are required for a long-track optical card, and if the common tangents of the rollers do not completely match as shown in FIG. This will result in unexpected movements. FIG. 12A shows an example in which the center guide roller is located toward the outside, and FIG.
2B shows an example in which the center one is located closer to the inside. However, since the mounting accuracy of the guide roller cannot normally be expected to be better than ±0.01 mm, there is a good chance that this unexpected movement will cause the optical pickup to become servo-off. Furthermore, since the card edge is allowed to curve within a certain range according to the standard, servo misalignment can occur even if the common tangents match perfectly. Furthermore, because of its shape and use, optical cards are often carried around more often than other media, and are therefore more likely to be damaged. If there is a scratch or the like on the card edge, it will naturally cause blur in the tracking direction. Originally, the track pitch of an optical card is very fine, around 0.01 mm, so changes in card posture, curved edges, and scratches that seem slight to the naked eye can cause the tracking servo to come off as described above. There is.

The present invention has been proposed in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a card drive device that is less likely to lose tracking.

[0011]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a movable optical pickup for irradiating a beam onto an optical card, and a driving means for applying a propulsion force to the optical card. The optical card drive device includes a slide member that is in contact with a longitudinal edge of the optical card and can move integrally with the optical card following movement of the optical card, a guide member that regulates the moving direction of the slide member, and an optical card. and a biasing member that biases the slide member.

0012

[Operation] As described above, the present invention is configured so that the card position in the tracking direction is regulated via a sliding member that reciprocates integrally with the optical card, so that the guide in the tracking direction is guided along a member longer than the optical card. Go,
In addition, since the card end and the guide member do not come into sliding or rolling contact, the tracking servo is less likely to come off, regardless of the track length and the card edge shape.

[0013]

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. An embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1 to 6. Main frame 1 has an optical pickup guide (not shown)
is fixedly installed, and the optical pickup 2 is movable in the direction of the arrow along the optical pickup guide. Further, rollers 3, 4, 5, and 6 are rotatably attached to the main frame 1 so that the optical card 7 can be moved smoothly. The main frame 1 also includes rollers 8 and 9.
, 10 are attached so as to horizontally press the card edge through leaf springs 11, 12, 13 (biasing members), respectively.

Furthermore, the main frame 1 is provided with non-contact sensors 14 and 15 at both ends of the longitudinal dimension of the card during data recording and reproduction. Next, a guide shaft 17 (guide member) is fixed to the subframe 16. Drive rollers 18 and 19, which are arranged at a distance slightly smaller than the longitudinal dimension of the optical card 7 and are disposed apart from each other by a distance slightly smaller than the longitudinal dimension of the optical card 7, are attached to the subframe 16 so as to be rotatable and displaceable in the vertical direction. There is. These drive rollers 18 and 19 are connected to a pulley 21 (as shown in FIG. 3).
(for driving) and 22 (for driven) and belt 23,
The motors 24 are used as a power source and normally rotate in synchronization. Further, the subframe 16 includes a leaf spring 26,
27 is attached to urge the drive roller 19 in two directions toward the optical pickup. Although not shown, the drive roller 18 is similarly energized.

Furthermore, a solenoid 28 is fixed to the subframe 16. A slider stop 29 is fixed to the movable piece of the solenoid 28, and a compression coil spring 30 biases the slider stop 29 in a direction opposite to the suction force of the solenoid 28. Note that the slider stop 29 is provided with a simple guide (not shown) for regulating movements other than the translational movement caused by the operation of the solenoid 28. Then, the slider stop 29 is connected to the solenoid 2.
When the solenoid 8 is not energized, the solenoid 2 protrudes to a position where it can engage with the slider 31 that moves in the moving direction of the optical card 7.
When 8 is energized, it operates to retract to a position where it does not interfere with the slider 31.

Next, the guide shaft 17 extending in the direction of movement of the optical card is inserted into the elongated holes 32, 3 formed in the slider 31.
3, and the slider 31 is movable along the guide shaft 17. Further, since 32 and 33 are elongated holes in the thickness direction of the optical card, the slider 31 can be displaced in the focus direction (FIG. 4). Furthermore, plate springs 34 and 35 are fixedly attached to the slider 31. Furthermore, a roller 37 is rotatably attached to a press-fit hole 36 provided in the slider 31, and this roller 37 comes into contact with the side surface of a rib 38 provided in the subframe 16, so that the slider 31 It is restricted so that there is no degree of freedom of rotation around the axis.

Next, as shown in FIG.
are provided with tensioners 39 and 40, each with a fulcrum 41.
, 42 are biased to press against the belt 23 by tension coil springs 43, 44. Further, one tension coil spring 43 is set to have a weaker force than the other tension coil spring 44, so that the belt usually loosens more on the lower side. Further, a microswitch 45 is disposed below the tensioner 40, and when the tensioner 40 rotates downward, the microswitch 45 is turned on.
It is designed to be. Next, a card insertion/ejection port 47 is formed in the front panel 46. Further, a card sensor 48 is arranged near the card insertion/ejection port 47 to detect the presence of a card.

Next, the operation of this embodiment configured as above will be explained. First, an operation is performed to accept the optical card 7 into the device (hereinafter referred to as loading). When the optical card 7 is received in the device, the slider 31 is located closer to the card insertion/ejection port 47 than the position where it engages with the slider stop 29, and the solenoid 28 is not energized. When the optical card 7 is inserted into the card insertion/ejection port 47 in this state, the card sensor 48 detects the card, and this triggers the motor 24 to start rotating. The optical card 7 is then held between the drive roller 19 and the rollers 5 and 6, and is transported into the apparatus by the rotation of the drive roller 19. During the conveyance process, the optical card 7 comes into contact with the leaf spring 35 of the slider 31, and the slider 31 is pushed by the optical card 7 and begins to move. However, when the slider 31 comes into contact with the slider stop 29, the slider 31 can no longer move, and from then on, only the optical card 7 pushes up the leaf spring 35 and is transported further into the back. Next, when the optical card 7 reaches a position where it contacts the roller 10, it is pressed toward the slider 31 so that the card reference surface 49 of the slider 31 and the edge of the optical card 7 come into contact. Thereafter, the optical card 7 advances to a position where it is held between the drive roller 18 and the rollers 3 and 4, and then leaves the drive roller 19 (FIG. 5). That is, the source of the driving force shifts from the drive roller 19 to the drive roller 18. At this time, the optical card 7 also comes into contact with the roller 9, and receives the bias in the direction of the slider 31 due to this, so that the optical card 7 also comes into contact with the roller 9, so that the other card reference surface 5 of the slider
0 and the edge of the optical card 7 touch. In this way, the position of the optical card 7 in the tracking direction and the proper state without inclination in the plane perpendicular to the pickup optical axis are maintained. Furthermore, the optical card 7 is attached to a leaf spring 34.
is also pushed up and hits the card abutting surface 51.

On the other hand, the slider 31 is stopped by coming into contact with the slider stop 29, and the optical edge 7 also becomes immovable like the slider 31. In this state, drive roller 1
Since the pulley 9 does not come into contact with the optical card 7 and thus no load is applied, the force with which the pulley 21 pulls the lower side of the belt 23 is not impaired. However, the drive roller 18
Since the belt 23 is in a state where it cannot be moved, that is, it has stopped due to overload, the tension on the lower side of the belt 23 gradually increases. As a result, tensioner 4
0 cannot resist the tension of the belt 23 and gradually moves downward. On the other hand, since the tension on the upper side of the belt 23 decreases, the tensioner 39 moves downward, and as a result, the slack of the belt 23 is absorbed (FIG. 3B).

When the tensioner 40 moves downward, the microswitch 45 is pressed, and this triggers the start of energizing the solenoid 28. Solenoid 28 is on
When this happens, the slider stop 29 is pulled, and the engagement between the slider 31 and the slider stop 29 is released. As a result of these operations, the optical card 7 is held between the slider 31 by the leaf springs 34 and 35, and the rollers 8 and 9 are held in any position.
, 10, the optical card 7 and the slider 31 can move together. In this way, loading of the optical card is completed.

Next, when recording/reproducing data, the drive roller 18 is rotated by rotating the motor 24, and a propulsion force is applied to the optical card 7. The slider 31 receives a propulsive force from the optical card 7 and moves together with the optical card 7. However, since the direction of movement is restricted by the guide shaft 17, the optical card 7 also moves along the guide shaft 17. will be carried out. Also, optical card 7
The vertical direction (focus direction of the optical card) is regulated by the rollers 3 and 4, but the slider 31 is movable in the same direction and changes its height following the optical card 7, so the height of the slider and roller is No stress is applied to the optical card 7 due to the difference in height.

In addition, non-contact sensors 14 and 15 are provided at the stroke end to prevent the optical card 7 from overrunning.
When the optical card is detected, the direction of rotation of the motor 24 is changed. By repeating these operations, the optical card 7 reciprocates with a predetermined stroke, and by irradiating the optical card with a beam, data can be recorded/reproduced.

Next, when ejecting the optical card after data recording/reproduction processing (hereinafter referred to as ejecting), motor 2
Rotate 4 in the opposite direction to the loading direction. At this time, the optical card detection by the sensor 14 is ignored and the motor 24 continues to rotate. Further, the optical card 7 is being conveyed together with the slider 31 in the direction of the card insertion/ejection port 47, but the slider 31 hits the shaft support 52 and stops, and after that, only the optical card 7 moves toward the card insertion/ejection port 47. and move. Also, during movement, the card sensor 48
detects the optical card 7, which causes the solenoid 28 to stop energizing. Then, the slider stop 29 projects to the engagement position, and the positional relationship between the slider 31 and the slider stop 29 is returned to the card receiving state. Furthermore, the motor 24 is stopped when the optical card is no longer detected by the sensor 14 after continuing the conveyance. In this way, the ejecting operation is completed.

The present invention is not limited to the following embodiments, but can be modified and modified in many ways. For example, in this embodiment, the slider 31 is prevented from rotating around the guide shaft 17 using rollers and ribs, but as shown in FIG. , 17b can also provide similar functionality. In addition, in this embodiment, the tension of the belt 23 is used to operate the microswitch 45, but as shown in FIG. It may also be configured to be connected to a circuit. In addition, the rollers 8 and 9 in this embodiment
, 10 are provided to bring the optical card 7 into contact with the slider 31 during card loading, and do not necessarily need to be in contact with the optical card 7 during data recording/reproduction. Therefore, for example, by moving these rollers in synchronization with the slider stop 29, the slider stop 29
The roller may also be retracted when the roller is retracted.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, the card position in the tracking direction is controlled via a sliding member that reciprocates integrally with the optical card. Since it can be carried out along a long member and the card end and the guide member do not come into sliding or rolling contact, it is independent of the track length and card edge shape, and the tracking servo is less likely to come off. In addition, even if it is necessary to detect the card speed, such as controlling the speed when driving the card, it is easy to handle this by incorporating a detection device such as a linear scale into the sliding member that moves together with the optical card. .

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a device according to the invention; FIG.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the device.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation near the pulley.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the slider.

FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory diagram showing the component position immediately before loading ends.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view showing another embodiment near the slider.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing another embodiment near the slider.

FIG. 8 is a partial cross-sectional view of a conventional device.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the vicinity of the optical card.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the vicinity of a drive roller in a conventional example.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the operating range of the optical card and the pitch of the guide roller.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the attitude of the optical card and the mounting position of the guide roller.

[Explanation of symbols]

3, 4, 5, 6 Roller 7. Optical card 8, 9, 10 Force roller 11, 12, 13 Leaf spring 14, 15 Non-contact sensor 17 Guide shaft 18, 19 Drive roller 21, 22 Pulley 23 Belt 24 Motor 25 Gear 28 Solenoid 29 Slider stop 30 Compression coil spring 31 Slider 46 Front panel 47 Card insertion/ejection port 48 Card sensor

Claims (1)

[Claims] [Claim 1] For irradiating a beam onto an optical card,
In an optical card drive device having a movable optical pickup and a driving means for applying a propulsion force to the optical card, an optical card that is in contact with the longitudinal edge of the optical card and can move integrally with the optical card following the movement of the optical card. An optical card drive device comprising: a slide member; a guide member for regulating the direction of movement of the slide member; and a biasing member for biasing an optical card toward the slide member.